‘Vote after marriage’: Around 70 lakh eligible women voters missing from UP’s electoral rolls
Of UP’s 7.7 crore eligible women voters, only around 7 crore are registered. We met some of them on farms and at brick kilns to understand why.
‘They built a highway in Noida. But why no road for us?’
For women voters in Baghpat’s villages, concerns range from alcoholism to women safety to the delivery of welfare schemes, though it’s unclear whether these will determine their vote.
Dolly Kashyap, a 40-year-old domestic help from Khera, said there had been four deaths recently due to illicit liquor in Baghpat.
In the financial year 2022-23, UP surpassed Karnataka to record an all-time high in excise revenue, from Rs 14,000 crore in 2017 to Rs 42,250 crore. The Yogi Adityanath government’s amendments to the excise policy were said to be behind this growth.
“Since there is a rise in liquor shops in our area, more men are getting addicted to it. In the last six months, four men have died. After the husband’s death, the burden to run the house is on the wife. But how can we educate and feed our children with our meager earnings,” asked Dolly.
For the women Newslaundry met at the brick kilns of Malkapur, the issue was the delivery of government schemes.
Sudesha, a villager from Malkapur, said the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana scheme is yet to reach them. “Can’t they see that we are burning our lungs by using stoves? But we don’t blame Modi for its poor implementation.”
On the polling day, a tractor from our village goes to the polling booth but it is stuffed with men. We feel hesitant to travel with them which discourages us from casting our vote.
Lakshmi Tyagi, a resident of Khaspura village
Meanwhile, in the upper caste populated Khaspura village, women complained of poor connectivity.
Lakshmi Tyagi, a 65-year-old, said there is no road connecting the village to the polling station. “On the polling day, a tractor from our village goes to the polling booth but it is stuffed with men. We feel hesitant to travel with them which discourages us from casting our vote.”
Vaishali Tyagi, a 24-year-old, said, “Like most young women in this village, I am also a graduate. But we cannot pursue our careers because there is no transport facility. Then what is the use of our education? The Narendra Modi government has built so many new highways in Noida, why have they not built a road for women like us?”
When Newslaundry reached out to Baghpat District Election Officer Jitendra Pratap Singh for comment, he said he is busy with elections and will speak later.
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